Spoiler : :
SoC Response Responses:
Timestamps: Yes, it's always 10 o'clock, barring extreme circumstances like 5-5.
Transcript: Don’t get me wrong, the “promptly flips out” was funny, but it seemed a little unprofessional. Even for Ace Attorney. It could work either way, though tone-wise the phrase would fit better in the newspaper clipping (don't know where, exactly). Not a big deal either way.
Loophole to evade double jeopardy: fair enough. (I had assumed such a justification, but it’s good to be clear.) It’s not like there isn’t already a loophole to get around everything else in the AA rulebook.
The juror's verdict: I’m not sure if there’s a way to cut that sentence down any more, so you might have to split the frame. It’s just not correct grammar (and doesn’t sound right either) without the the. Also, it MUST be [jurors’] with an apostrophe. It is “the verdict belonging to the jurors,” therefore it must be possessive.
Fancase-That-Must-Be-Made: Unfortunately, to my knowledge no one has yet properly chronicled the Zheng Fa serial killer/doughnut thief incident. Which is a shame, because the part when Apollo has to use the elephant as his co-counsel was simultaneously really sweet and really funny. To quote Apollo: “It was a REALLY long day.”
Kristoph's profile: Well, I don’t recall Drew Misham ever appearing so… Broken is in an interesting situation because of its status as a sort of sequel/redo of a canon case. Since it’s important to know who he is, even if he never appeared in person at all it would still make sense for him to have a profile, just because he is, in fact, relevant to the case. Not the biggest deal, though.
The Glitch: I don’t know of any particular way to stop frame-skip glitches. I think it’s just a thing that happens in V6 from time to time. Once I reloaded an earlier save I was able to get past it fine.
Kristoph's badge: Yeah, I can see why you wouldn’t want to go and replace ALL of those Kristoph poses… (Though, actually, the badgeless sprites are in the editor itself as Kristoph poses 13-19. Just so you know. Though half of that IS breakdown, so you might still want some custom sprites just to make sure. Oh, well. It’s not important either way. If anything, Kristoph still wearing his badge is a hint that he’s more delusional than we realized.)
Ema's Testimony: Yeah, splitting the cross-examination sentence in two wouldn’t really help anything. It just feels weird to have that ambiguity there, especially since it’s hard to tell how much the judge actually knows about the previous case.
Gavin and Justice: I guess I can see the Phoenix/Edgeworth parallels, but I guess because “Justice” is an actual word that might come up it still feels weird. Maybe it’s because you’re having two different characters do the same thing for completely opposite reasons: Apollo calls Kristoph “Gavin” because Kristoph is just another criminal/witness. Kristoph calls Apollo “Justice” because… he’s being friendly? To me it just feels like it feels more Kristoph-like (and mocking) to use “Mr. Justice” and Apollo can stick with “Gavin.” But it’s up to you, so whatever.
[Actually, I checked this and in Case 4-1, Kristoph DOES call Apollo “Justice” while they are allies, so your way may be more accurate to canon. It still feels weird to me, but then again, it’s not my trial.]
Cross-examination music: Haven’t tested the sound either, but it wasn’t a big deal in the first place, just a little thing that could be polished up.
The Puzzle: Any day you get to present the Attorney's Badge is a good day. Still, I'd definitely cite this if I ever needed to give an example of good "atypical" puzzle design, which is definitely fitting given that this is an "atypical" case in every sense of the word.
Final Thoughts Response Responses:
I wasn't accusing you of copying The Bitter Turnabout. They are, at their core, very different situations which make for very different cases, even if their fundamental concept of "aftermath" cases remains the same. Which is good, because that's more fun for all of us.
I’d say that Franziska’s actions were worse than Phoenix’s as well. This may not be how you intended it, but part of my interpretation was that Phoenix’s DIDN’T go through all of that nonsense to get revenge on Kristoph; he was just trying to get justice, stop a criminal and also clear his name. Franziska, however, didn’t realize that. She just assumed that he was being motivated by personal vengeance just like she had been in the past because (unlike normal people) that's what her worldview defaults to. Someone screws you over and you try to hurt them back. Her inability to realize that Phoenix WAS trying to do the right thing (albeit in a roundabout and somewhat unethical way) is part of why she herself is willing to play dirty in order to get back at him, because she feels like he’s become the old her.
Godot's basically the only character I can think of who might have had a similar reaction, but he is in no real position to complain about "excessive actions" so Franziska definitely works better. Though now I want to see Apollo and Godot face off for some reason...
As for the Red Envelope, when playing I expected Franziska to start slandering Ema like crazy (since Ema DOES have a potential reason to be biased, the fact that Franziska has no evidence to back up such claims wouldn’t stop her), and it sort of intrigued me that she DIDN’T. Franziska is targeting Phoenix and those she believes to be his “accomplices” (namely Apollo, but probably Athena and Klavier as well). Though Franziska COULD argue that Ema must also be removed, she probably sees Ema as an innocent party and so doesn’t go there. If Apollo takes note of this (just commenting to himself during Ema’s cross-examination that Franziska’s NOT badmouthing a Phoenix associate for once), it could serve as foreshadowing that even as hostile as Franziska is, she still has limits because she still thinks she’s doing the right thing.
The most logical place for Apollo to bring up the Red Envelope would be during Kristoph’s testimony (since Franziska is not disputing the actual facts of the murder up until then), as it was the evidence linking him to the crime (okay, so the Yellow-Envelope-That-We-Don’t-Have-Anymore was the thing linking Kristoph to the Red Envelope which linked him to the crime, but whatever). Franziska would probably try to shut him down, but Apollo would insist that this found-at-the-crime-scene evidence IS relevant, which Franziska can’t deny without damaging Ema’s credibility (which she previously had no problem with). This doesn’t necessarily mean that the Envelope actually gets into the record, though, just that Kristoph must address the issue. Kristoph’s best bet is to (for once in his life) tell the truth: He put the stamp in the envelope and sent the letter but Vera took the stamp out and insisted that she be allowed to keep it, thus preventing Drew from using the stamp until “fate” made him do it. Thus, Kristoph has “proven” Vera’s involvement. Can he verify this is the case? No. Is claiming that Vera did this ridiculous? Yes. But that’s the point of Kristoph's story: it’s a massive ball of nonsense disguised as an alternate theory. Ironically, Kristoph’s story sounds like a (normal) defense attorney’s claim: I can’t prove this happened, but you can’t disprove that it’s a valid-ish alternative theory. Only problem is, Kristoph’s not on the defense’s side this time: He’s on the prosecution’s, so Innocent Until Proven Guilty screws HIM over instead. Like I think some other people mentioned, I'm sort of sad that we don't get to see Kristoph's reaction to learning that Apollo and Phoenix have defeated him once again, but I can't think of a way to do that that makes sense.
Okay, I think that's everything. Good job, and good luck in future endeavors. (Like a certain comp that's being run right now...)
Timestamps: Yes, it's always 10 o'clock, barring extreme circumstances like 5-5.
Transcript: Don’t get me wrong, the “promptly flips out” was funny, but it seemed a little unprofessional. Even for Ace Attorney. It could work either way, though tone-wise the phrase would fit better in the newspaper clipping (don't know where, exactly). Not a big deal either way.
Loophole to evade double jeopardy: fair enough. (I had assumed such a justification, but it’s good to be clear.) It’s not like there isn’t already a loophole to get around everything else in the AA rulebook.
The juror's verdict: I’m not sure if there’s a way to cut that sentence down any more, so you might have to split the frame. It’s just not correct grammar (and doesn’t sound right either) without the the. Also, it MUST be [jurors’] with an apostrophe. It is “the verdict belonging to the jurors,” therefore it must be possessive.
Fancase-That-Must-Be-Made: Unfortunately, to my knowledge no one has yet properly chronicled the Zheng Fa serial killer/doughnut thief incident. Which is a shame, because the part when Apollo has to use the elephant as his co-counsel was simultaneously really sweet and really funny. To quote Apollo: “It was a REALLY long day.”
Kristoph's profile: Well, I don’t recall Drew Misham ever appearing so… Broken is in an interesting situation because of its status as a sort of sequel/redo of a canon case. Since it’s important to know who he is, even if he never appeared in person at all it would still make sense for him to have a profile, just because he is, in fact, relevant to the case. Not the biggest deal, though.
The Glitch: I don’t know of any particular way to stop frame-skip glitches. I think it’s just a thing that happens in V6 from time to time. Once I reloaded an earlier save I was able to get past it fine.
Kristoph's badge: Yeah, I can see why you wouldn’t want to go and replace ALL of those Kristoph poses… (Though, actually, the badgeless sprites are in the editor itself as Kristoph poses 13-19. Just so you know. Though half of that IS breakdown, so you might still want some custom sprites just to make sure. Oh, well. It’s not important either way. If anything, Kristoph still wearing his badge is a hint that he’s more delusional than we realized.)
Ema's Testimony: Yeah, splitting the cross-examination sentence in two wouldn’t really help anything. It just feels weird to have that ambiguity there, especially since it’s hard to tell how much the judge actually knows about the previous case.
Gavin and Justice: I guess I can see the Phoenix/Edgeworth parallels, but I guess because “Justice” is an actual word that might come up it still feels weird. Maybe it’s because you’re having two different characters do the same thing for completely opposite reasons: Apollo calls Kristoph “Gavin” because Kristoph is just another criminal/witness. Kristoph calls Apollo “Justice” because… he’s being friendly? To me it just feels like it feels more Kristoph-like (and mocking) to use “Mr. Justice” and Apollo can stick with “Gavin.” But it’s up to you, so whatever.
[Actually, I checked this and in Case 4-1, Kristoph DOES call Apollo “Justice” while they are allies, so your way may be more accurate to canon. It still feels weird to me, but then again, it’s not my trial.]
Cross-examination music: Haven’t tested the sound either, but it wasn’t a big deal in the first place, just a little thing that could be polished up.
The Puzzle: Any day you get to present the Attorney's Badge is a good day. Still, I'd definitely cite this if I ever needed to give an example of good "atypical" puzzle design, which is definitely fitting given that this is an "atypical" case in every sense of the word.
Final Thoughts Response Responses:
I wasn't accusing you of copying The Bitter Turnabout. They are, at their core, very different situations which make for very different cases, even if their fundamental concept of "aftermath" cases remains the same. Which is good, because that's more fun for all of us.
I’d say that Franziska’s actions were worse than Phoenix’s as well. This may not be how you intended it, but part of my interpretation was that Phoenix’s DIDN’T go through all of that nonsense to get revenge on Kristoph; he was just trying to get justice, stop a criminal and also clear his name. Franziska, however, didn’t realize that. She just assumed that he was being motivated by personal vengeance just like she had been in the past because (unlike normal people) that's what her worldview defaults to. Someone screws you over and you try to hurt them back. Her inability to realize that Phoenix WAS trying to do the right thing (albeit in a roundabout and somewhat unethical way) is part of why she herself is willing to play dirty in order to get back at him, because she feels like he’s become the old her.
Godot's basically the only character I can think of who might have had a similar reaction, but he is in no real position to complain about "excessive actions" so Franziska definitely works better. Though now I want to see Apollo and Godot face off for some reason...
As for the Red Envelope, when playing I expected Franziska to start slandering Ema like crazy (since Ema DOES have a potential reason to be biased, the fact that Franziska has no evidence to back up such claims wouldn’t stop her), and it sort of intrigued me that she DIDN’T. Franziska is targeting Phoenix and those she believes to be his “accomplices” (namely Apollo, but probably Athena and Klavier as well). Though Franziska COULD argue that Ema must also be removed, she probably sees Ema as an innocent party and so doesn’t go there. If Apollo takes note of this (just commenting to himself during Ema’s cross-examination that Franziska’s NOT badmouthing a Phoenix associate for once), it could serve as foreshadowing that even as hostile as Franziska is, she still has limits because she still thinks she’s doing the right thing.
The most logical place for Apollo to bring up the Red Envelope would be during Kristoph’s testimony (since Franziska is not disputing the actual facts of the murder up until then), as it was the evidence linking him to the crime (okay, so the Yellow-Envelope-That-We-Don’t-Have-Anymore was the thing linking Kristoph to the Red Envelope which linked him to the crime, but whatever). Franziska would probably try to shut him down, but Apollo would insist that this found-at-the-crime-scene evidence IS relevant, which Franziska can’t deny without damaging Ema’s credibility (which she previously had no problem with). This doesn’t necessarily mean that the Envelope actually gets into the record, though, just that Kristoph must address the issue. Kristoph’s best bet is to (for once in his life) tell the truth: He put the stamp in the envelope and sent the letter but Vera took the stamp out and insisted that she be allowed to keep it, thus preventing Drew from using the stamp until “fate” made him do it. Thus, Kristoph has “proven” Vera’s involvement. Can he verify this is the case? No. Is claiming that Vera did this ridiculous? Yes. But that’s the point of Kristoph's story: it’s a massive ball of nonsense disguised as an alternate theory. Ironically, Kristoph’s story sounds like a (normal) defense attorney’s claim: I can’t prove this happened, but you can’t disprove that it’s a valid-ish alternative theory. Only problem is, Kristoph’s not on the defense’s side this time: He’s on the prosecution’s, so Innocent Until Proven Guilty screws HIM over instead. Like I think some other people mentioned, I'm sort of sad that we don't get to see Kristoph's reaction to learning that Apollo and Phoenix have defeated him once again, but I can't think of a way to do that that makes sense.
Okay, I think that's everything. Good job, and good luck in future endeavors. (Like a certain comp that's being run right now...)